It would be awesome to be faster than light. I appreciate tips and any pieces of advice I can get. Thank you very much for posting. It is a pure delight such people to exist who do not hesitate to share and find time to post.

Don't try to blow up a ship with your crew on it, and if you do use a boarding ship, Ion weapons can help, 2 or 3 at least.Always stock up on fuel, even if you don't need it.Get cloaking or weapon pre-igniter.Never shoot first and ask questions later if you have a choice.Don't go into a one on one fight with the mantis.Don't mess with Nebulas.

I've played a few times now--just on easy to get the hang of it, made the final sector, killed by flagship. I read through some of the tips here but I must be doing something wrong--I simply never get anywhere close to having the scrap to purchase all the items that are mentioned as being needed, or at least very helpful.

As a general strategy (not 100%) should I hit the red sectors and then as many beacons as I can manage for encounters? I tried that and ended up floating without fuel. I feel like I'm missing something REALLY basic here.

You're missing out on luck I suppose.If the sector is red, there will be a lot of enemies dead. If the sector is green, encounters will be lean.If the sector is purple... find another sector.

Red sectors are more likely to have combat, green sectors are more likely to have empty beacons (but free Scrap!) and purple sectors... just don't go into a nebula. Those are either mostly empty or full of Slugs and storms.

I've played a few times now--just on easy to get the hang of it, made the final sector, killed by flagship. I read through some of the tips here but I must be doing something wrong--I simply never get anywhere close to having the scrap to purchase all the items that are mentioned as being needed, or at least very helpful.

As a general strategy (not 100%) should I hit the red sectors and then as many beacons as I can manage for encounters? I tried that and ended up floating without fuel. I feel like I'm missing something REALLY basic here.

Heh, kind of seems like the strategy I employ. Hitting red sectors and lingering as long as I can before jumping out with the rebels right at my heel(even letting them get to the exit beacon while I get the last one or two beacons that I can before I go sometimes).

First of all, as a general rule I'd say, try to linger as much as possible, no matter what sector you're in. This will let you farm as much as you can and subsequently make you the most prepared. If you're running low on fuel... I don't know what to tell you expect to keep your fuel count above 15 when u visit a shop and to accept fuel surrenders if you're running low. While I've run out of fuel before, it wasn't enough times to complain about.

As for the tips discussed here, they're just their opinions. They vary for each player. For instance, one guy says to get ion weapons with boarding. I totally disagree, although I can sort of see where they're coming from. Just curious, what do you consider necessary to win the bossfight?

Cloaking is 90% mandatory if you want to survive the Bossfight. Drones won't cut it but a level 1 cloak can dodge a Drone Swarm or a Death Blossom or just the triple missile barrage in general.

I say 90% because you can win without cloak and I've seen plenty of videos that do so and I think I've done so but honestly, without Cloaking, your options for dodging are either tanking missiles or hoping you get lucky with your weapons.

I don't know, I've personally found that Nebula sectors aren't that bad... as long as they don't lead to more nebula sectors. If you have to go through a Nebula to get to 3 hostile sectors in a row, you should do it. Just remember to upgrade your oxygen...

I've owned FTL for about a month, and I've beaten it 6 times (granted i spent the first 3 weeks getting all the ships). Cloaking is definitely not mandatory, but it is very useful to have, and if you don't you can take a lot more damage that you ought, especially during the drone surge. The 8 shot power surge is survivable if you have high enough engine power - in my ridiculous Mantis B win, I had enough scrap to upgrade engines all the way to level 8! But if you want to survive the Flagship in the most practical way possible, do get cloaking, along with drone control and hacking.

stylesrj wrote:Cloaking is 90% mandatory if you want to survive the Bossfight. Drones won't cut it but a level 1 cloak can dodge a Drone Swarm or a Death Blossom or just the triple missile barrage in general.

I say 90% because you can win without cloak and I've seen plenty of videos that do so and I think I've done so but honestly, without Cloaking, your options for dodging are either tanking missiles or hoping you get lucky with your weapons.

I disagree about that. I almost never go for cloaking. Especially in Hard mode, where scrap is VERY limited, the price of cloaking is a factor - 150 scrap + even more if you want level 2 or 3 is a hell of a lot. Personally I go for drones and mind control wherever possible. If another system slot is free, I will usually prefer hacking over cloaking. Sometimes I may even decide to leave the slot blank and spend the scrap on improving shields, or engines, or the weapons system instead. When you're in sector 7 and don't know how much scrap there is left to earn for you before you face the boss, you may need to take a decision like that.

I found mind control to be absolutely awesome when it comes to disrupting your oppoent's ship. Or it can be used to protect yourself from that disruption. Also, it's the cheapst system BY FAR, simply because you don't really need an upgrade. Level 1 mind control is perfectly fine. The main point about mind controlling an opponent is to buy time during which he won't repair his own ship (or attack your own crew on your own ship), and more energy on mind control won't buy more time. OK, that increases a risk of total system failure as only one single point of damage is required for that. But I will accept that risk and spend the scrap on other systems instead.

I guess it's a question of personal style. I don't usually play with cloaking unless the ship starts with it, and I get to win at least 75% of my games in hard mode. At the same time, I am not particularly good at using hacking. Other people's mileage may vary and for them my playing style would perhaps not be recommended. And, of course, you will not need to take the same kind of decision when playing in easy mode. In easy mode, you will often be able to improve all systems to the max, so you can totally build the ship exactly the way you want it, without changing your plans depending on how the game unfolds. In hard mode, on the other hand, you will seldom collect more than 2000 scrap over the course of a campaign. So you'll have to set your priorities.

Arthur Dent wrote:The main point about mind controlling an opponent is to buy time during which he won't repair his own ship (or attack your own crew on your own ship), and more energy on mind control won't buy more time.

Actually, higher-level mind control does last longer than lower-level (which is why Flagship's level 3 mind control seems to last forever; it really does last longer). Additionally, the extra crew damage your mind controlled guy does increases the chances that enemy crewmen will have to leave to go to the medbay, or get knocked out entirely to go to their clonebay, which will cause other people to get distracted off their positions for a short time.

This effect's most prominent in early and mid-game ships, of course, but it does make a difference. Whether it makes a 30-scrap or 60-scrap difference, when that scrap could be spent on weapons, shields, or hacking, though... that's another story. Overall I usually find myself only using level 1 mind control for a long time after I buy the system, but I'll usually upgrade it to level 2 sometime in sector 6 or 7, especially if I'm going into a green sector where an improved mind control blue option is possible.

Zaffre wrote:Hi. I've seen some people asking for help recently. After playing the game for a while, I decided to compile some of what I've learned over my time of playing the game for new players.

1) Use ion weapons. Ion bombs and ion blast II are the most effective. The ion bomb on any shield can disable it (except the Zoltan shield), and one ion bomb can take out the final boss's shields as well. The ion blast has a short charge, and it can go down to four seconds if it's mark II. Using ion weapons, you can accomplish a technique called the "ion lockdown" in which the enemy cannot fire weapons or bring up shields, leaving them virtually defenseless.

2) Manning your engines increases evasion chance. Shields can help to some degree, but having more evasion helps even more. With fully upgraded engines and a veteran person manning it, you can evade most attacks coming your way. If your ship lacks shields, fully upgraded engines can compensate for it to some degree.

3) If you want to see what systems an enemy ship has, look below it. You should see icons representing what they have. If you don't want to get boarded and you are not sure if an enemy vessel has a teleporter, look there.

4) If your O2 levels run out, then a level two med-bay can keep your crew alive. If you cycle your crew enough that one repairs, another takes over, and the other makes it to the med-bay, you can repair your O2 generator to full health.

5) Always upgrade your doors. I cannot stress this enough. It will impede not only the movement of fire, but also that of intruders. This means that you can hold back intruders to some degree.

6) Use your airlocks. By opening the airlocks, you depressurize the room, which sucks out all oxygen. This will extinguish fires and also asphyxiate invaders. This is best utilized with upgraded doors.

7) If you're losing a fight, jump away. You will almost always be able to leave if you're taking too much damage.

8) Fire can be your ally and your enemy. You can use fire to roast invaders, and if you have a Rock crew member, they will be able to fight invaders while standing the flames unharmed. Again, upgraded doors can be used to control the spread of fire.

9) Unlocking ships can be easier than one may think. To unlock the Zoltan ship, for instance, you just have to select the right speech choices.

10) If you pilot a Zoltan ship, the upgraded shield will not stop invaders from events.

11) Never trust spiders.

12) Trust space horses.

13) If you find a ship with crystal on it, and get in safe, there will be a stasis pod. Get it. This will begin a mission that will unlock you the rarest cruiser in FTL!

14) Cloaking is your friend. If you time cloak correctly, you can avoid most attacks. This can negate damage from missiles as well, so it is useful especially in the later stages.

15) Don't sell your missile launcher until you are sure you can afford to upgrade it and have enough reactor power to install it. You will regret it.

16) Crippling the enemy helm is the same as crippling the enemy engines; they will not be able to dodge.

17) The Scrap Recovery Arm augment is one of the best augments you can get. You will get considerably more scrap from every event.

18) In terms of usefulness, this is what I rate the alien types, from worst to best: Human, Slug, Zoltan, Mantis, Crystal, Engi, Rockman.

19) Know your crew functions. Humans do nothing special. Slugs have telepathy, which can yield some interesting event choices and also see enemies without sensors. Zoltan provide one power to any room they are in. Mantis move faster and do more damage but have halved repair speed. Crystal can lock down a room, which halves suffocation damage and prevents anyone from getting in or out. They also have 25 more life. Engi have doubled repair speed but half as much combat damage. Rockmen move half as slow, have 50 more life, and are immune to fire.

20) Know your ships. You will unlock the Stealth cruiser, the Mantis cruiser, the Engi cruiser, the Federation cruiser, the Slug cruiser, the Rock cruiser, the Zoltan cruiser, and the Crystal cruiser as you progress. They all have special abilities. There is a useful guide by Ohmwrecker here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YAVeUu25Pz8 . You will also see the functions of the ships with the exception of the Crystal cruiser.

21) If there is a choice in blue during an event it will usually be the best option to pick.

22) Blue options in events require certain things but are usually more beneficial than normal options.

Huge fix to your weapon tip. Ions are a very precise startegy. If using ions, COMMIT TO THEM. Too many people will have a normal weapon build and then like a single ion 1, or a heavy ion (dont ever use heavy ion btw). If your going to use ion guns, try to have most or all weapons ion. This will help you to lock down an enemy ships weapons and shields. If going all ion, have a beam drone or combat drone to finish off the ship. Or maybe have a heavy lazer 1 in your loadout to finish the ship. If you are commited to ions, ion blast 2 is always a good pickup. 2 ion 2’s, 1 ion blast and heavy laser can melt flagship. But you will more commonly be using ion blast 2 and 2 ion 1’s, or maybe ion bomb with ion 1 and ion 2. But an ion loadout usually had either ion b 2 or ion bomb. If you are running only ion blast or stunner, you should stop your ion strat because it will most likely failz